Her Tainted Blood
by la vita e bella
Summary: Everyone thought she was dead, but she was only hiding. Now, found by a father who holds no love for her, she must decide whether she will follow the path of her father, or make her own.
1. Chapter 1: Snape

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original characters and the plot.

A/N: this is only my second fic. Help me out here and leave a review.

**Tainted Blood**

**Chapter 1: Snape's Task**

A man nervously paced the hallway leading to a large, ornate mahogany door, his black robes whispering over the worn rug in folds of faded black fabric. His nerves were strung tight so that he momentarily forgot the walking habits he had made for himself years ago and fell back into the twitching, spider-like walk he had sported in his youth. He took little notice of the way it caused his long, greasy, black hair to twitch and jump around his pale face that featured a long, crooked nose. This man concerned himself only with what was waiting for him beyond the large door.

Finally, the door creaked open to reveal another, taller man also in black robes. "Severus, He will see you now." Severus Snape stopped his nervous pacing immediately and swept past the man without acknowledging him. The man standing in the open doorway followed Snape through and into the cavernous room beyond.

"You may leave, Avery." Said a high, cold voice from the other end of the room. Obediently, the man named Avery bowed out through the doorway and closed it behind him, leaving Snape to proceed alone. Snape swept up the centre of the room, immediately re-adopting his more impressive and less spider-like walk. The Dark Lord sat in a worn, but still throne-like chair at the opposite end of the room with Lucius Malfoy cowering before him. Snape could feel the penetrating red eyes of his Lord watching him. He did not return the gaze, but sank respectfully to his knees before the Dark Lord.

"What news have you gathered?" The voice of the Dark Lord was high and cold.

"She is alive, My Lord." Said Snape, his eyes still fixed on the patch of worn carpet in front of him.

"I shall send Bella along with you to collect her, Severus. It would seem Lucius' failures grow in number every day, and now I find that he has succeeded in lying to his Lord. Therefore he is not worthy of a task as important as this. I would only send my most loyal Death Eaters on a mission such as this." He hissed venomously.

"I am always your most loyal and dedicated servant, Lord." Lucius said. "I- I would give my life for you..." Snape glanced sideways at the wreck of a man to his left. He had been broken out of Azkaban the previous day, only to find that his spot as the Dark Lord's right hand man had been taken by Snape. His failure at the Ministry and loss of one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes had lost him his place as the Dark Lord's right hand man. The Dark Lord does not tolerate failure and betrayal. This newly uncovered lie will be the end of Lucius Malfoy.

"Severus, you may go. You will collect her tomorrow."

Snape bowed and left the room quickly as the Dark Lord pulled out his wand and aimed it at Lucius. Snape could hear his screams as the door swung shut behind him.

_Footsteps pounded in the distance behind her, prompting her to sprint faster. She reached the forest behind the manor; it would be easier to lose her pursuers in there. She didn't slow her pace as she wove through the thick growth of trees, weeds and brambles that tore at her robes and scratched viciously at her face. The small bag of her most precious belongings was shaking and bouncing violently in her hand. The footsteps grew fainter and fainter as she wove through the countless trees; her small, fourteen year old body working to her advantage in slipping through the gaps between trees and bushes._

_All sounds of her pursuers faded, but she didn't dare slow down. Her muscles screamed in protest, but she couldn't rest until she found a safe place to hide a long way from home._

A young girl was jerked out of her dream by the loud buzzing of her alarm clock. She groggily turned over to look at the time. She dragged herself out of her bed thinking that, while it was appealing, pressing the snooze button for the third time that morning would not be a good idea.

She rolled out of bed and hurriedly got dressed for work. She skipped breakfast and hurried out of her apartment, down the dim hallway beyond, past the broken elevators and down the stairs. She was nearly out the door…

"You're a month late on your rent, Alice." The landlord had stepped out in front of her, blocking the door. His small beady eyes bore into Alice's greedily.

"I found a new job last week. I'll have the money this evening, Will."

"If you don't, you can pick up your things from the curb." Will said venomously and took a step toward her, baring his tobacco-stained teeth.

"I've told you I will. Now if you don't mind, I have to get to work." She hissed in response. Will moved aside in exaggerated, mock courtesy to let Alice pass. She strode past him and out the door.

The blazing sun beat down on the back of Harry Potter's exposed neck as he pulled weeds in the front garden of his aunt and uncle's house. It's the last day, he reminded himself. Tomorrow he would turn seventeen and finally leave the dreadful guardianship of his aunt and uncle, both of whom were putting him to work constantly to keep him busy so he wouldn't "cause trouble". Once the last weed had been pulled out, Harry stood up slowly, stretching his sore knees. He trudged into the house with every intention of taking a long, cool shower. He was stopped, however, by his uncle.

"When do you leave?" Vernon asked bluntly.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Good. I want you out of this house before I wake up in the morning and I never want to see or hear of you or any of those… freaks… you hang around with ever again. Whatever trouble you get yourself into, don't you dare bring it back to this house. Understood?" He said warningly.

"Fine." Harry said coldly. He wove around the large figure of his uncle and up the stairs to the bathroom. After a refreshing shower and a meager lunch (provided by aunt Petunia), Harry returned to his room to pack more of his belongings.

Alice exited the bank that evening with the money from her paycheck carefully tucked deep into her back pocket. She checked her watch. 5:00. There was enough time for a lesson. She walked to the end of the nearest deserted alleyway and hid behind a dumpster where passing muggles would not see her disapparate.

Alice appeared before the door to an extremely old, broken down building near the end of Knockturn Alley.


	2. Chapter 2: Lesson

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original character and the plot.

** Chapter 2: Lesson**

Alice walked briskly up the steps to the tired old building at the end of Knockturn Alley. She climbed the stairs at the back of the building past various rooms full of wizards trading, selling, and gambling dark items. The sounds of Alice's shoes were muffled by the layers of grime that coated the floor. She climbed higher and higher until she emerged through a door at the very top of the building.

"You are not safe, Alianora." Her teacher had spoken from the corner of the room.

She despised that name. She had shed that name the day she had escaped. Now, she had a new life and a new name. Even so, her teacher insisted on calling her by the name her father had given her.

"There are rumors," He continued. "That Lucius Malfoy has been killed for lying to the Dark Lord."

"Lucius Malfoy was a fool. He has most likely lied about a lot of things." Said Alice. Her teacher turned to look at her, his time-worn features full of concern.

"You know as well as I that he will come for you. When, I cannot say for certain. But you must be careful. It may be time for you to move somewhere He will not find you."

"I can't. I've just found another job."

Her teacher sighed heavily. "It is your choice, however I hope you will consider leaving. But for now, let us get on with your lesson."

Her teacher began by making her perform numerous advanced spells she had recently learned. Alice had practiced each one for hours, so she made no mistakes. Next came what she truly needed these lessons for; dueling. They did not bow or begin on the count of three. The wizards Alice expected to be up against one day would not bother with niceties. Alice had barely finished the last advanced spell she had learned in the previous lesson when she saw a jet of blue light come at her from the corner of her eye. She stepped back just in time and it missed her by a fraction of an inch. She allowed herself no time to think as she spun quickly and focused her thoughts on the first spell that came to mind. A purple streak shot towards her teacher, but he disapparated from where she had aimed her spell. She heard a pop directly behind her and barely registered the tip of a wand between her shoulder blades before she doubled over in pain. It felt as if an animal was trying to claw its way from inside her stomach.

"You are slow today. What is weighing on your mind?" The clawing pain in her stomach increased and Alice bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. Her knees buckled and she fell to her knees, clutching her stomach. The teacher used this momentary lapse in concentration as an opportunity to slip past the defenses in her mind.

"Legilimens." Images flashed before Alice's eyes and she forgot about the pain in her stomach. They flashed faster and faster until her teacher found the one he was looking for. It was as if a film had begun in her head. She had begun to watch the exact dream she had had the previous night. Alice was standing on the edge of a cliff. All that stretched out ahead of her was the never-ending night sky and all that was below her was darkness. In her bare feet, she stepped a bit closer to the edge and peered over as far as she could. She wanted dearly to let herself fall and be swallowed by the mysterious beauty of the darkness. It pulled at her, urging her to take just one more step. Her mind screamed at her to step back into the world behind her, the world she had run to in the first place. The pull of the darkness was so gentle, so loving, so tempting, but she finally took a step back from the edge. No sooner had her foot touched the ground than the pull of the darkness became like an icy grip. It held her tightly and the more she pulled away, the stronger the pull became. Her feet began to slide unwillingly closer and closer to the edge. Her feet left the edge but she caught the edge with her arms, desperately clawing at the dirt and rock, trying to scream but not a sound came from her. She was losing the fight. Alice couldn't take it anymore. She used all her concentration forced her teacher from her mind.

The room came suddenly into focus. The pain in Alice's stomach had disappeared and there was only her teacher looking gravely down upon her. She stood slowly and met his gaze, working to keep any emotion from showing on her face.

"I believe I told you explicitly to tell me of any dreams or premonitions. I thought you realized the importance of dreams such as the one we witnessed. I was mistaken." Alice's heart wrenched at his words. She had never hidden anything from him before, but she was afraid of what that dream meant, so she hid it. She did not look into his eyes. With the pain gone, she remembered to use her occlumency and blocked her teacher from reentering her mind.

"It is time to end our lessons. You are to leave and move far away from this place, where neither your father nor his followers will find you." He said while walking towards the window with his back to Alice.

"I'm not leaving." Alice said at once. She turned to face him, but he did not turn.

"You will leave." He said firmly without raising his voice in the slightest, but emanating a sense of authority. "You will leave and go somewhere far from harm. Goodbye, Alianora."

Alice placed the money for her final lesson on the table beside the door. "Goodbye." She left without looking back and shut the door behind her.

Harry's alarm clock buzzed irritatingly at four o'clock the next morning. He reached over and shut it off before it woke up the Dursleys. Harry gathered his trunk, his broom, and Hedwig's cage and left the house as quickly and quietly as possible. He waited impatiently on the front porch of his Uncle's house for his escort to arrive. Harry didn't like the idea of an escort, but the Order insisted upon it and would not listen to his protests. At exactly 4:06, Mr. Weasley, Mad-Eye Moody, and Tonks apparated with three loud 'pops' in front of him.

"Put your cloak on, boy! Where's your head!" Apparently Moody thought of this as a way of greeting. Mr. Weasley shook Harry's hand and Tonks simply rolled her eyes at Moody, her hair bright orange today. Harry thought for a moment that more people were coming, but they were either hiding or his guard was to consist of three people, only two of which are aurors. His heart plummeted as the realization of how small the Order had become. He didn't mention it, though as they climbed onto their brooms and took off, Privet Drive shrinking away into the distance forever.

Harry sped through the air with the others and all sounds of the streets below were lost to the sound of the wind and of rustling cloaks. He suddenly felt guilty. Not only was he taking some of the few remaining Order members to escort him to safety, but he was not going to be staying in the protection of the Weasleys. Nor did he plan on returning to school. He planned on staying with the Weasleys for the week remaining before his and Ron's apparition test. Harry was afraid that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would not approve. In that case, he would have to sneak away, which is a possibility he was not looking forward to. He was completely immersed in his thoughts that he didn't realize they already at the Burrow and was pleasantly surprised when they landed on the lawn between the various wandering chickens.

"This is it?" Bellatrix stared up at the shabby apartment building where they had been told they could complete their task. "She left the care of the Malfoys, one of the richest and purest families in existence, for this?" Snape stalked past her irritably, entering the building without pausing to look at it. He heard Bella's footsteps behind him. She mumbled something about it looking like his house, but he pretended not to hear her. He climbed the narrow staircase and down the hallway towards a shabby apartment at the end of the hall. Bellatrix hurried along behind him. They reached the end of the hallway and knocked on the door.


	3. Chapter 3: Homecoming

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original character and the plot.

Chapter 3: Homecoming

The door had been left open. Snape had knocked only once when the door swung open under his fist, letting the light from inside spill out onto the dark hallway. Snape pulled out his wand cautiously, but before he could take a step Bella had already marched through the open door. No sooner had she turned a corner that Snape saw a bright flash of green light from within. He dashed around the corner, fear gripping him, but he saw that Bella had simply killed muggle man. Relief washed over him and he turned to look at Bella.

"He was stealing her things." Bella explained in response to Snape's raised eyebrow. Snape stalked past her and stepped over the dead man who looked as if he had in fact been stealing. Snape wandered into the kitchen, silently scanning the room. It looked exactly like any other muggle residence. There was no physical evidence that a witch lived there, though Snape could feel traces of magic in the air.

There was a scream from the other room. Snape pressed himself against the wall of the kitchen so as not to be seen. There was more scuffling from the other room, a thud, then silence. Snape moved swiftly and silently through the doorway. Bella was crumpled in a heap on the floor and standing with her back to him was a woman still pointing her wand at the immobile form of Bella. Snape waved his wand wordlessly and the woman was lifted from the ground with a small gasp and, not at all gently, thrown and pinned against the far wall of the room.

"Ah, and you must be Alianora." Snape said. Alianora glared daggers at him in response. Snape ignored this and simply stared for a moment. He looked at Bella, then back again.

Alianora looked, as Snape had expected, like her father as he had before his transformations. She had smooth, jet black hair that fell to her shoulders with bangs across the forehead of her beautiful face, but what was strange was that the heavily-lidded eyes and tan skin was strangely reminiscent of a Black. He didn't want to think about which Black it could be, although he couldn't help his strong suspicion that it was the one beginning to stir on the floor behind him.

Bella stood up and walked up beside Snape, her face livid.

"So this is her?" Bella spoke as if Alianora wasn't there. "She thinks she is more powerful than I? She doesn't know the meaning of power." She hissed venomously, looking directly at Alianora, who remained in a stony silence.

Snape gave Bella a warning look. Bella sighed and said in mock politeness to Alianora, "We're here to bring you to your father. And you'll come without a struggle." She added threateningly. Snape saw a flicker of emotion in Alianora's eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Fear? Excitement? He tried to sense her emotions through Legilimency, but she was an accomplished Occlumens and he saw nothing. The question of where she had received her training floated across his mind once again. No doubt Lucius taught her much of the Dark Arts, but she seemed to know more than he could have taught her in the time she was in his care. Bella picked up her wand and Alianora's, both of which had fallen to the floor in the fight. Snape released Alianora from the spell. He grabbed hold of her arm and they disapparated.

Harry approached the Burrow with Tonks and Mr. Weasley on either side of him and Moody limping along behind him. Harry knocked on the door.

Mrs. Weasleys voice timidly answered. "Who is it?"

"It's us Molly, we have Ha-" Tonks began, but was interrupted by Mr. Weasley. "We have to ask the questions!"

"Oh bother the questions!" Tonks waved her hand in dismissal. Mrs. Weasley opened the door and pulled Harry into a hug. She stepped back and looked him up and down, declaring at once that he has the look of a starved child and is growing taller every day. She ushered him over to the kitchen table and set a plate piled high with sausages and eggs in front of him. Harry ate his food hungrily.

"So, Potter!" Moody said, sitting down and lifted his fake leg onto the table with a grunt. "No point beating around the bush. Ever since Dumbledore died, we've been a little low on information. So you're going to fill in any gaps" He said bluntly with both frightening eyes fixed upon Harry.

"What he means is that it's hard to continue the Order without Dumbledore and, well." Mr. Weasley cut in. "It would be best for us to have all the information we can about what Dumbledore had known and what he had been doing before he, well… anyway, it would be a big help to us if you… maybe if you could… let us in on some things. It would help us continue our work in the Order." He trailed off. Tonks determinedly kept her eyes on the scrubbed wooden table in silence.

Harry set down his fork and swallowed what was in his mouth. He had suddenly lost his appetite.

"I'm sure Dumbledore would have wanted you to share any potentially useful information you may have picked up from being around him with a member of the Order." Mr. Weasley concluded.

"No point denying it, Potter." Moody said forcefully. "We know you're not telling us everything."

"Dumbledore wanted to keep our plans between the two of us." Harry ignored the fact that they were assuming he had attained any information he had through eavesdropping, instead of working side-by-side with Dumbledore.

"Yes, Minerva said you might say that, but-" Mr. Weasley leaned across the table and spoke in a lower tone to Harry "Dumbledore didn't plan to die, Harry. Circumstances have changed."

"He made it clear that what we did was to be kept between the two of us no matter what happened." Harry looked Mr. Weasley in the eye as he said this, leaving no room for argument.

Mr. Weasley leaned back into his chair.

Moody spoke instead. "But you've told your little friends, haven't you?"

Harry's mind raced for a moment. Yes, Ron and Hermione did know, but Harry didn't want to put them through the same kind of interrogation. "No, not even them."

Mr. Weasley shrugged hopelessly at Moody, who didn't seem convinced. "We'll just have to respect Dumbledore's wishes."

Alianora opened her eyes when she felt her feet hit solid ground, the compressing feeling of Apparition left her and she took in a breath of musty air. She looked around her. They had come to a dim room with peeling wallpaper and rich carpets that had been worn thin. The windows were covered by velvet curtains that were moth eaten, faded and tinged grey with a buildup of dust.

"Bring her to me." A cold voice echoed from the other end of the room. Alianora was given an unnecessary shove in the direction of the voice by the woman she had knocked out. She walked purposefully to the foot of the throne and knelt before the man she knew was her father.

"I am honored to have finally met you, my Lord." She said. Voldemort eyed her curiously.

"Rise." He commanded. She stood and looked her father in the eye so he could examine her. She was slightly taken aback by his sickeningly twisted and snake-like features. She had heard rumors, but never believed them for a moment. "You have caused some damage to my most prized followers." He said, indicating to one of the two Death Eaters who had come and knelt on either side of her.

The woman on Alianora's right nervously covered the slowly forming bruise on her left cheek with her hand. Alianora had to suppress a grin. "I am sorry, Lord. Had I known you had sent them to find me, I would not have attacked."

"Tell me, daughter, why did you not return to me when I was resurrected?" Voldemort stared piercingly into Alianora's eyes with this question.

"My Lord, I feared I would be of no use to you and you would dispose of me. I decided to wait until my skills were great enough to do your biding." Alianora kept her mind and emotions blank throughout her response. She could feel her father searching her mind for any trace of a lie, but he found none.

Voldemort paused for a moment before continuing. "I admit disposing of any who is of no use to me is necessary. However, it would seem that you are more powerful than I had expected. Only an exceptional witch would have the skill to harm dear Bella" Voldemort turned to the other Death Eater. "Bella, come here." She rose and went to her master, blushing at the mention of being beaten by a much younger witch. He took her arm and lifted the sleeve of her robes, revealing the Dark Mark, and pressed it with his long forefinger. Bella's jaw visibly clenched in pain and, after a moments pause, there was a sudden, colossal whooshing sound as Death Eaters apparated in a circle around them.

"Trusted followers, may I introduce my daughter; Alianora." Voldemort said to the crowd of masked Death Eaters. They all glanced at each other through their masks, unsure of how they were supposed to react. Voldemort turned to the man who had brought Alianora there. "Snape, give her back her wand. You and my daughter will have a duel, with the intent to kill. You will not stop until I instruct so." Snape threw Alianora her wand and Voldemort returned to his throne. "Begin."

This was it; she had been training for a moment like this for years. Alianora closed her eyes for a moment and felt Snape's presence. She had to wait for him to make the first move, but she could see absolutely nothing of his mind through Legilimency. She wouldn't feel the spell coming. Her hand was becoming slippery with sweat and she opened her eyes; she would need to rely on only them now.

Seconds passed and Snape still hadn't made any move. Her nerves were tightening, but still she waited. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Snape begin to move his wand and she stepped back immediately. A streak of purple light flew past her from the tip of Snape's wand. Alianora spun and sent a jet of silver at Snape, but he disapparated out of the way. For one heart stopping moment Alianora couldn't see him. She heard a faint pop behind her and to the right. She instinctively side-stepped to the left and spun around to face him, but Snape's spell was faster than Alianora. It skimmed her shoulder and immediately began to sear her left shoulder. The smell of burning flesh drifted up her nose, distracting her; slowing her senses. Snape took this opportunity to hit her with a spell that snapped one of her legs at the knee.

Alianora let out a small scream of pain. She knew she was losing; Snape was impossible competition. She tried to ignore the pain as much as possible and desperately sent three spells one after the other; one at Snape, and the other two on slightly angled on either side of him. He deflected the centre spell, stepping sideways in the process. The right one hit his chest which began to compress, crushing the bone and lung inside. Snape gasped for breath and reached into his robes, fumbling with a bottle inside.

She may have salvaged a tie, but not a win. The pain in her arm was becoming too much. The spell was still eating at her left her shoulder and arm, which was already blackened and sizzling. The bone of her shoulder was beginning to appear and the burning would soon eat its way to her heart. The room was sliding out of focus from the overwhelming pain…

"Enough." Said Voldemort. He waved his wand and the pain vanished. Her leg and shoulder were mended. Alianora and Snape regained their composure and waited for the Dark Lord's verdict.


	4. Chapter 4: Change of Plans

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original character and the plot

Chapter 4: Change of Plans

Harry excused himself from the table full of information-starved Order members. He made his way up the stairs with the intention of finding Ron and Hermione, in hopes that they would give him some sanity. He reached the top floor and knocked on Ron's door. It was opened by Hermione, who immediately smiled weakly and stepped aside so he could enter the room. It was, as always, an explosion of orange, the team color of the Chudley Cannons. Ron was sitting on his bed and Ginny was leaning against a bookshelf that held Ron's comic books. Harry caught Ginny's eye and held it. He had missed her almost to the point of physical pain, but he couldn't let her know that. Harry broke the gaze and looked instead at Hermione who had closed the door behind him.

"I'm glad you're here, Harry." Hermione said, walking around Harry to sit on the bed. "For a moment I thought it was Moody coming to ask us questions again. He's been peppering Ron and Ginny with questions for weeks before I even arrived. He started interrogating me as soon as I got here. I've never felt more like a criminal." She glanced nervously at the door.

"He interrogated me too." Harry peeked outside the door once again before moving closer to his friends and whispering, "I told him you don't know anything. What did you say?"

"We pretended not to know what he was talking about." Hermione whispered back, again glancing at the door. A sudden look passed her face as if she had just remembered something and she placed a muffliato spell on the door.

"Fred and George have been helping us out. Warning us when Moody was coming, telling us when he planned to read our mail, even made excuses for us to leave the house when he came." Said Ginny. She had moved from her spot leaning against the shelf and taken a few steps towards Harry, never looking at him. His heart pumped harder the closer she came. "Mum and Dad don't even try to keep him from spying on us." The last sentence was filled with bitterness.

"Harry, we have to talk about our plans." Hermione said abruptly. "The Order is expecting us to leave some time after the wedding, only I think they expect us to wait until a few days after. We'll have to leave the night of the wedding if we're ever going to get past any protections they have planned."

"But that's tomorrow." He said blankly. These words were met with silence. There was no time left to plan. However they tried to escape, they would have to avoid magic anyway, so the Ministry wouldn't be able to find them. "Okay, what sort of protections are on this place?"

Hermione answered as quickly and enthusiastically as she would in a classroom. "The Floo network works only to and from specific locations, such as Dumbledore's, I mean McGonagall's office, Grimmauld Place, and Fred and George's shop. Order members are alerted when a broom or something of that nature approaches, and Portkeys and Apparating don't work within half a mile, unless the person Apparating knows a password or a specific spell, which we don't."

Harry massaged his temples in attempt to ease the throbbing pain in his head. He and Ron didn't have their apparition licenses anyway, and brooms would obviously be caught.

"We could Floo to Fred and George's shop. Maybe ask them to leave us a key or something." Said Ginny. Harry was still painfully aware of how close she was standing. He could just barely catch a whiff of her scent.

"It's late. We can finish talking about this tomorrow."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Voldemort looked Alianora over once again, with a somewhat curious expression on his face. Alianora worked to keep her mind blank as fear flooded her. Her wand was slippery with sweat.

Voldemort spoke. "Come." Alianora approached him in the most confident way she could and looked him in the eye. There was a moment where no one moved a muscle, then Voldemort pointed his wand at her chest. She was gently lifted off her feet to eye level with her father. He waved his wand, there was a flash and Alianora was engulfed in a smoky, black sphere. A terrible cold filled her body. Her veins felt as if they were pumping ice instead of blood. The darkness she was trapped in crackled with energy and the freezing feeling began to move and concentrate on her left forearm. Once the cold had gathered, it became warm; then hot. It burned with more and more intensity like a brand. She bit her lip to stop from screaming from the pain. As suddenly as it had started, it stopped.

Alianora opened her eyes to find her feet back on the floor and the darkness gone. She lifted her sleeve and saw the jet black Dark Mark glaring tauntingly at her from her left arm. She looked up at Voldemort. "Thank you, my Lord. I will not disappoint you."

Voldemort was wearing a satisfied grin. He stood and addressed the crowd of Death Eaters. "Tonight, we welcome a new member into our great family. My daughter has finally taken her rightful place amongst my true family." The circle of masked figures bowed. Voldemort addressed her, "Yaxley will be your personal guard should you find it necessary. Draco, whom I'm sure you remember, will show you to your rooms."

Her heart froze. Draco couldn't be a Death Eater, he wouldn't… She suppressed her fury as Draco emerged from the circle. She wanted to scream in rage, to strike him with every curse she could think of, but instead she kept her emotions to a minimum and her father out of her mind. The man named Yaxley came and led her away from the circle and out into the hallway. Being away from Voldemort's gaze was like a small breath of fresh air. The hallways were decorated in the same fashion as the main room; long, dark, and all the doors and branching hallways were identical, making it seem like it stretched into eternity. Draco led them up a grand flight of stairs, around a corner and down another hallway that was identical to the first. She could only pray she wouldn't get lost in this dark labyrinth.

Alianora couldn't keep her eyes off the back of Draco's head. Hatred and betrayal were flowing through her uncontrollably. Although it is more difficult without eye contact, she tried to peer into his mind. Apparently he had become efficient at Occlumency, something Alianora believed impossible of the stubborn, emotional, and aggressive young boy she once knew. He stopped abruptly at the last door on the right.

Alianora turned to Yaxley, "Would you give us a moment?" Yaxley raised a rough, dirty-blond eyebrow for a moment, then turned and left Alianora and Draco alone in front of the door to her new room. As soon as Yaxley's footsteps had faded away, Alianora turned to Draco and slapped him with all the strength she could muster, which wasn't much considering the recent duel.

Draco faltered for a moment in shock, rather than pain. He stood to his full height, which was a good four inches taller than hers, raised his eyebrows, and locked her in his cold eyes. "I don't believe I deserved that."

Alianora challenged his icy stare with her fiery one. "Don't you dare give me that bullshit. You swore you would never follow in your father's footste-" He held up a hand to silence her and looked furtively down the hallway. He opened the door to her room and stood back to let her enter first. She did and he followed her, closing the door behind them.

"I distinctly remember you being the only one who hated my father." His face was completely expressionless.

She couldn't help but grin humorlessly at the irony in his words. "He's trained you as his puppet again, I see. I guess after I left he had no one stopping you from becoming his carbon copy."

There was a pause in which Draco flushed pink with fury. His voice remained steady. "You're quite the hypocrite to lecture me on following in my father's footsteps. The entire inner circle of the Death Eaters has just witnessed you swear eternal loyalty to your own father."

"If I hadn't I'd be dead." She took three steps closer to him, challenging him. "Go on, run to your precious father. Tell him I'm a liar; a traitor. Tell him everything you suspect of me. I know you want to. You are his pet, aren't you?" The rational part of her mind was screaming at her to stop. She was deliberately giving herself away just to satisfy her anger. If Draco was in fact loyal, Alianora had sealed her fate in less than a minute.

He clenched his fists at his sides, as though trying not to strike her. "You'll be pleased to know my father is dead. Our Lord killed him, because of you."

Alianora hesitated at the sarcastic emphasis he put on the word "Lord". She had expected to have to kill him (or be killed by him), which she had promised to do if he ever joined the Death Eaters, but she suddenly questioned whether he was really a loyal Death Eater. She knew he was right; here she was, a full fledged Death Eater, and judging him for joining Voldemort's army. They had both hated the Dark Lord when they were growing up together, but she assumed that when she had run away Draco had grown a fondness for the darker side of this eternal war. But it was obvious now he still hated the Dark Lord. Unless she was right and it was Lucius' death that turned Draco against Voldemort again. Or he could easily be lying and setting her up to be killed…

"I am pleased to hear that. Lucius was a fool and deserved to die. I just wish I'd had the pleasure of doing it myself."

"Why do you hate him? He had nothing but respect for you; the daughter of his Lord."

Alianora laughed humorlessly. "He had nothing but contempt for me. I was a reminder of the downfall of the Lord to which he had devoted his life for so long." Draco remained silent, watching Alianora. She met his eyes, her expression as unreadable as ever.

"Then I'll leave you to stew in your self-pity." He spun on his heel and made for the door. Alianora pulled out her wand and pointed it at the back of his blond head.

"I can't let you leave." Draco stopped. He turned around slowly as if he'd been expecting exactly this. "I didn't come this far to have the likes of you rat me out."

"You're hesitating." Anger surged through her again. She hated that, even after so long there were times where he could read her like an open book. The truth was, she had hesitated because his loyalty to Voldemort had very possibly been shattered, or may have never even existed. She didn't answer. He took a step closer, then another, and another. Alianora had had a plan for her time as a Death Eater; a scheme that would keep her alive and safe, no matter what the outcome of the war. All that had changed when Draco had entered the picture. She suddenly had no idea what to do.

Draco stopped an inch from the tip of her wand. "Even if you had the willpower, you don't have enough strength left from then duel. I can see your wand trembling. You needn't worry, I won't hand you over to the Dark Lord. It would give me much more satisfaction to kill you myself and, if I wanted it so, you'd be dead by now." He turned again and left the room, carefully closing the door behind him.

Alianora glared for a moment at the closed door. She kicked her nightstand across the room and let out a scream of frustration.


	5. Chapter 5: Wedding Day

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original character and the plot

Chapter 5: Wedding Day

"Harry, wake up."

He very distantly felt a hand gently shaking him. A flowery scent was vaguely familiar. Bits of information floated meaninglessly around his brain.

"He sleeps like a log; you'll never wake him up like that. HEY HARRY!"

Harry felt a pillow collide with his head. Everything quickly arranged itself in his head and he opened his eyes and reached for his glasses. When the room came into focus, he was greeted by Ron smirking near the doorway, Hermione giving Ron a frown, and Ginny who was grinning and sitting on the edge of Harry's bed and holding a tray with an assortment of breakfast items. Harry picked up the pillow that had hit him and threw it as hard as he could back at Ron, who dodged it skillfully. It hit a picture of Fred and George hanging on the wall, which promptly fell and was saved from damage by a pile of dusty boxes stacked along the wall.

"You'd better eat and get ready." Ginny set the tray down on Harry's lap. "Mum's having a cow over this wedding. She's cooking enough to feed a small army and Phlegm already had a fit over her dress. Crookshanks knocked Phlegm's morning tea all over it." She didn't bother to suppress her grin.

Harry smiled and started eating his eggs and toast. He remembered the conversation from the night before and quickly picked up his wand and performed a i muffliato /i spell on the door. "Did anyone talk to Fred and George yet about using their shop?"

Ron looked at his watch. "Well I told them to meet us here for ten o'clock, which means they should be here exactly nine minutes and fourteen seconds ago."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Hermione gave Ron a digital watch." She explained.

"It was pretty fast math, though. I'm getting good with this thing." Ron said smugly, showing off his new watch to Harry and Ginny.

"Fast wrong math, it says that now that the twins were supposed to be here i eight /i minutes and twenty seconds ago." Replied Ginny, reading the glowing, digital numbers. Harry snorted into the coffee Ginny had brought him on the breakfast tray.

Hermione jumped a foot as there were suddenly two loud cracking sounds from which the twins appeared.

"Not late are we?" Said George.

"Actually, you are. Eight minutes late." Ron said, showing them his watch.

Fred looked at his watch and said "My watch says we're right on time." Ron just scowled at Fred.

"So," George said, rubbing his hands together. "what important matters are we so graciously donating our precious time to?"

"Well…" Hermione started, but stopped and looked to Harry.

"We need to Floo to your shop." Harry said vaguely.

Fred gave Harry a suspicious look. "Something tells me you're not going for the merchandise."

"We're... er…" Harry looked at Ron, then back at Fred. "we're leaving." Fred and George looked at each other, barely changing their facial expressions.

"All of you?" Said George, looking pointedly at Ginny. She opened her mouth to protest, but Harry cut her off. "No, Ginny's not coming." She glared at Harry who cut across her again. "We'll talk about it later." She gave Harry another death glare, rage brewing in her brown eyes, and stormed out of the room. He winced as the door slammed behind her and looked back at Fred and George. "So are you going to help us?"

"When are you planning this miraculous escape attempt?" said George.

"Right after the ceremony." said Hermione. Her words were met with silence. The twins looked at their determined faces and heaved a collective sigh.

"We'll do what we can. We assume it's understood that if you're caught, we had nothing to do with it." said Fred. Ron, Harry, and Hermione nodded. "Okay, when you Floo there, say your destination, then the password, which is whatever colour your knickers happen to be at the time. " the three listening to this raised their eyebrows. "We had to pick something nobody would guess! Now stop laughing and listen.

"When you get inside, look under the pot of Floo powder on the mantelpiece and you'll find a key."

"It unlocks the door at the back of the store that leads to the storage room. Take anything you need."

"We put together some backpacks packed with some things we recommend you take."

"Those are on the table near the back door."

"Then go through the back door and you'll and up in a muggle book store in London. After that, you're on your own." The other occupants of the room stared at the twins in silence.

"What?" The twins said in unison.

Harry recovered enough to respond. "Uh, nothing. Thanks you guys."

"No problem, mate." Fred said, smiling genially. "But remember, if you get caught, we didn't help you. You little thieves broke in yourselves." They all nodded in response. "Good. I hate to cut this wonderful get together short, but George and I have some interesting and rather – er - unstable fireworks to attend to. Don't get yourselves into any trouble you can't get out of!" Fred and George bowed theatrically and left the room briskly, shutting the door behind them.

Ron clapped his hands together. "Well, Hermione, you wanted a plan. Satisfied?"

Hermione frowned at his remark. "Yes, actually, I am. For the first time we won't be diving headfirst into a dangerous situation unprepared." With that remark she looked at Harry, who acknowledged the remark without really thinking about it. He quickly shooed Ron and Hermione out of the room so he could get dressed and find Ginny.

He pulled the first pair of decently clean pair of jeans and t-shirt he could find out of his trunk and put them on. He made a quick stop by the bathroom to brush his hair and make a futile attempt at smoothing down his hair before rushing to Ginny's room. When he arrived at her door, he knocked gently, but there was no response. He ran down to the kitchen, but she wasn't there either. Mrs. Weasley was, though.

"Harry! Good morning! Did Ron bring you your breakfast?" She looked more frazzled than ever. She was frantically stirring large pots of soup and sauces, seasoning an extremely large roast, and answering the questions of family members and some of the guests who arrived early to help.

"Yeah, he did. Er, have you seen Ginny?"

"Tonks, please tell the twins to save whatever they're planning until the end of the evening, otherwise they might ruin the whole event fantastically!" She said to Tonks who nodded and rushed out, pausing only to say a quick hello to Harry and trip over a chair. "What was that? Ginny? She had better be helping Fleur get ready like I told her to."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley." Harry said. He left quickly before she could assign him any work to do or become any more frazzled at the thought of Ginny not doing as she was told; which she most likely was not. He up the stairs to the room he knew to be the one Ginny was sharing with Hermione and knocked three times. There was no answer. He waited a few moments, then knocked more insistently.

"Ginny?" He said. "It's me." Harry hoped she knew who he meant. As he was debating whether or not to add his name in, the door opened to reveal an unhappy Ginny. "Can we talk?" He cut in and stepped past her into the room before she could protest. He could see from her face that she was not going to make this easy. "I know you're angry…" he began. She remained silent with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised; listening to what he had to say. "but you know I can't let you come. It's going to be extremely dangerous and I-" Harry paused and looked at his shoes. "You know I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you."

There was a pause while Ginny thought this through and took a calming breath. "No, I don't appreciate being left behind when I know I've proven I can handle danger. I fought at the Ministry and at Hogwarts with you, doesn't that mean anything?"

Harry matched the determination in her stare. "I know you can take care of yourself, but that doesn't mean that something couldn't happen to you. I don't want you to take that risk." To his great surprise, she nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'll go to Hogwarts, but I'm only agreeing to this because you need someone at Hogwarts to get information for you. There's bound to be ways I can learn something that will help you. Plus, someone's got to keep an eye on the Slytherins." Harry automatically disliked the idea because it still put her in danger of getting caught eavesdropping, or sending messages to him, but he knew she was right. He wouldn't be able to just stroll into Hogwarts if he needed to use the library or talk to someone there.

He sighed in defeat. "Alright, but don't do anything too reckless."

"You mean, don't do anything you would do?" She smiled devilishly.

Harry smiled as well and pulled Ginny into a hug breathing in the flowery scent he would never forget. "Just be careful."


	6. Chapter 6: Escape

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original character and the plot

Chapter 6: Escape

Alianora slept fitfully that night, waking every hour or so. Part of her was waiting for someone to come take her away; to torture and humiliate her before the Death Eaters; to kill her… but no one came. Dawn was just beginning to break when she awoke and decided another attempt at sleep would be futile. She discovered a trunk at the foot of the bed and a tray covered in breakfast items on the nightstand. The trunk was full of her clothes and things that someone had gathered from her apartment. It also had a package in it which, when opened, revealed simple, but elegant robes.

She dug through her things and, with a sigh of relief, found an ornate black jewellery box that had been given to her when she was a child. It had been given to her by Lucius Malfoy, the man she had despised more than her father. Alianora had been forced to live with the Malfoys at the age of two, after her father had fallen, and was kept a secret for years. Lucius regarded her with contempt and Narcissa tried and failed to show her the same motherly compassion she showed Draco. Alianora, fed up with living within the confines of the house, had attempted to escape many times. Finally, when she was twelve, she was successful. After months of hiding and running, and many failed attempts by Lucius to track her down, she was free. From then on she had gone by the name Alice; a name she had adopted upon reading the muggle storybook called Alice in Wonderland. She was attracted to the name that was so much like her own, yet represented someone so completely different from herself. Alice new nothing of darkness and had a sweet innocence which Alianora had always secretly envied. She loved the story intensely and Draco even called her by that name, when Lucius and Narcissa weren't around of course.

She opened the glossy lid of the box and lifted out the green, velvet–covered bottom, revealing a compartment below it. As a child, she had pried open the bottom so that she could use it as a place to keep drawings, stories, and other things she didn't want found in this compartment. Now there were no stories or drawings. There were four small, flat glass bottles in little pockets on a silk sash, a small plastic bottle, a piece of folded paper and a long thin box. All these things had been saved for if she were finally found by her father or his followers. She removed the silk sash with the glass bottles safely stowed in the little pockets arranged in a row along it and tied it around her right arm. Her finger brushed the glass of one of the bottles and she felt Them stir inside her. She ignored them, as usual, and opened the flat box to reveal an ornate dagger with a blade of six inches, which she had stolen from Lucius the night she had left, hoping one day to kill him, not only with his own blade, but in a way as muggle as stabbing. It was also cursed so that, when killed with this blade, They could have his soul. This she carefully slipped this into the arm sash in such a way that it would not cut her and could be easily accessed. Again, she ignored Them stirring when she touched the blade. She then put the plastic bottle in her pocket, shut the jewellery box and put it back into her trunk. She changed into a set of black robes, slipped her wand into her pocket, ate what she could of the breakfast, and left her room.

The hallway was completely deserted. The only light was a narrow strip of sunlight filtering through the gap in the curtains on the window at the end of the hall, illuminating the dust floating gently in the still air. She turned left, away from the window, and walked with no particular destination in mind, but she hadn't turned the corner before she was face to face with Draco. The thought of killing him, where he stood crossed her mind, but decided against it. If he were going to rat her out, he would have done it already. They stared blankly at each other for a moment. Alianora broke the silence first.

"I'm alive. I guess that means you kept your word." It sounded silly, even to her, but it was the only thing she could think of saying.

Draco crossed his arms. "Does this mean you trust me?"

"No, but I do think we can help each other."

Draco smirked in the annoyingly smug way only he could. "Still refuse to trust anyone, not even me. You'll never change."

The incredibly smug look he was wearing did nothing but annoy her, giving her the small urge to slap that smile off his face, or at least hurt him enough to make it go away. "I used to trust you." Again, not her best attempt at being hurtful, but the smirk disappeared anyway. This gave her no satisfaction.

Draco broke the silence, sounding suddenly more grave and business like "Come with me, we need to talk somewhere a little safer." Alianora followed him to his room, which was located just around the corner from hers. He shut the door behind her and cast a spell on the door. She turned around and jumped nearly a foot the sight of another man in the room, whom she recognized as the man assigned to protect her, Yaxley.

Draco answered her question before she could ask it. "Yaxley and I have formed an alliance against the Dark Lord. I thought you'd like to join us, Alianora."

She glared at him with every ounce of hatred she had. "If you want to live to see another day, you won't use that name."

He laughed, "Sorry, I'd forgotten how much you hate that name. Alright, Alice, are you interested?"

She nodded. This would, of course, mean another change of plans. Planning ahead was one of her strong points, which she used to outweigh her inaptitude for making spur-of-the-moment decisions. "Alright, first I need to do is gain my father's trust. He needs to think I live only to serve him… I'll need to do that as soon as possible….. I'll do it today." She turned and headed towards the door as if oblivious to the presence of Draco and Yaxley.

"Wait, what will you do today?" said Draco, but she had already left. He strode out of the room to follow her, but found she had already rushed off to a different part of the mansion, leaving him standing in the middle of the hallway, looking very confused.

She strode down the hallway thinking quickly. To gain her father's trust, someone had to be sacrificed. She turned a corner and stopped. A man standing at the other end with his wand pointed at the great snake her father called a pet.

"Back! Get back you disgusting beast." The snake backed down a little, looking as though it was furious. The man lowered his wand and kicked the snake, which hissed at him and slithered away.

Fate was on side today. Alianora couldn't think of an opportunity more perfect than this. She waited until Avery had left the hallway and went in search of the snake. She found it slithering towards the main hall and stopped it with a quick and silent petrifying spell. She stood over the massive snake and prepared to perform the killing curse, but stopped. It was Them again. They were stirring violently within her, far too much to ignore. Alianora could feel Their longing for the soul of this snake, but she didn't understand it. What was so interesting about the soul of a snake? She set aside her question and decided the best thing to do was to satisfy them. She removed the cursed blade from the sash in her sleeve, turned the snake over, and aimed for a spot just beneath the snake's large jaw. With a quick slashing motion she created a deep gash that spilled blood everywhere. She removed the petrifying spell and watched the snake writhe momentarily, before slumping into a motionless heap. They stopped their stirring, now that they had received the soul They wanted.

As quickly as she could, Alianora found Avery's room. Luckily for her, it was already empty. Wasting no time, she rummaged through his drawers until she found a ceremonial knife, not unlike the one she had stolen from Lucius. She wiped the blood off of her own blade and onto his and replaced it in his drawer.

She wasn't proud of this plan, for it had been rushed and foolish, but so far it had worked. After washing her hands and her knife, she returned to her room, where she made the conscious decision to carefully and deliberately plan every step of the path that lay ahead of her. She couldn't risk leaving anything else to be as foolish and dangerous as what she had just done.

Even Harry had to admit that the wedding had been magnificent. There were white flowers covering every surface and a great archway covered in more flowers, under which Bill and Fleur had said their vows. Ginny had looked stunning in the soft gold bridesmaid dress Fleur had picked out for her. Her hair had been pulled half up and came down in loose curls that cascaded down her back. Harry hadn't been able to keep his eyes off her throughout the entire ceremony. Or, at least for the part they had seen. He, Ron, and Hermione had taken advantage of the perfect distraction the final 'I do's created for them and snuck out. After quickly stashing themselves under the invisibility cloak, along with a few shrunken trunks full of clothing, a sizeable portion of the contents in Harry's bank account in wizard's gold and muggle money, and other personal items, they made their way to the fireplace, where they followed the twins' instructions. With some minor blushing on the part of Ron at hearing that Hermione's knickers were pink, they had made it safely into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They made their way to the back of the shop where, as promised, were three backpacks, all containing the same things. Each had in it Instant Darkness Powder, one Blaze Box, a Portable Swamp, a few sets of Extendable Ears, two Skiving Snackboxes, a Shield Cloak, and a few Decoy Detonators. They couldn't think of anything else useful to add to these bags, so they left through the back door without delay. They found themselves in the travel section of a muggle bookstore, a section which was, of course, deserted.

Hermione smiled. "This is brilliant." She said quietly.

"What is?" Harry asked.

"Don't you remember? The back door of the shop used to lead out to Diagon Alley."

Harry did remember. They had followed Malfoy into Knockturn Alley that day. "Oh… Then how did we get here?"

"Well I think the twins have figured out how to make a door into a kind of portkey. They probably set it so that only we would end up in this bookstore, and anyone else would end up in Diagon Alley. That way no one will be able to track us. That's what's brilliant."

Harry looked at Ron who just shrugged. He had to admit, it was impressive, but there was no time to marvel at the genius of the twins; they needed to keep moving. There was no telling when the search for them would begin. It felt to Harry like the escape had been far too easy.

They left the little bookstore, passing a rather confused shopkeeper, and exited onto an unknown street in London.

"Harry, where are we going now?" Ron asked.

He thought it over. He knew he wanted to visit his parent's grave before starting the search for the horcruxes, but to disapparate from such an obviously muggle area was a bad idea; it was too easy for the Ministry to trace magic here. But then again, they wouldn't be able to get to a place where wizards were plenty without being recognized.

"If we Disapparate as soon as possible, the ministry might not be on the lookout yet. Alright, lets Apparate to the cemetery where my parent's are buried. Everyone remember where it is?" Ron and Hermione nodded; they had spent hours finding the exact location on a map according to the location mentioned in a book called The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts. "Okay, let's go." Technically, he and Ron didn't have their licenses, but neither cared. Harry focused every particle of his brain on the cemetery, the spot on the map and willed himself there. The faintly familiar compressing feeling that came with Apparating hit him immediately and he found himself in the middle of a large area of well kept grass, lined with tombstones. He looked around for Ron and Hermione. He spotted Ron near the edge of the cemetery to his left and Hermione not too far off to his right. He breathed a small sigh of relief that they had all made it there safely and with all their body parts where they should be.

Harry walked up and down the endless rows of tombstones, looking for the graves that belonged to his parents. In the fourth row he searched, he found a pair of stones with the names Lily Potter and James Potter, respectively. They were simple and still in good condition. What had he been expecting? That he would suddenly understand what he was supposed to do next? That all his doubts would vanish? That everything would make sense? He was in the same position he had been in before; knowing what he had to do, but not knowing where to start.

Ron and Hermione were standing together a few rows back, giving Harry his space. Harry took advantage of the calming silence to mull things over slowly and carefully in his head. The locket, the cup, Nagini, and something that belonged to Ravenclaw...

Harry left his parents behind him and made his way over to Ron and Hermione, unsure of how to feel. Now that he had visited the graves, he had no idea what he was supposed to do next. He reached his friends, whom he found to be staring at a gravestone in front of them.

Hermione turned and jumped when she saw him. "Harry! You scared me. We were waiting for you. Look at this grave!"

Harry looked at the stone she was pointing at and read the name; Rowena Ravenclaw. Astonished, he knelt down to get a closer look. Above the name was a detailed carving of what appeared to be a shield decorated with a picture of a raven in flight.

"A shield…." Harry said. "That's it! The Horcrux is a shield!"


	7. Chapter 7: Attack on the Innocent

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the original character and the plot

Chapter 7: Attack on the Innocent

Avery's screams could be heard throughout the mansion. Alice didn't dare wince at the sound. This wasn't a minor punishment; Avery was waiting for whichever came first, death or insanity. Through Alice's guilt for framing and selling him out (which would pass as soon as the man died) she was even more curious about the snake, whose name had been Nagini. She was at a loss for what exactly was so special about this snake, besides its unusual size. There was no time to ponder that now; she had been instructed to return to her father when he had finished with Avery.

The screaming stopped after a long four hours. Alice went quickly to the main hall, not wanting to keep her father waiting. She found him sitting on the throne pensively with Avery's body resting motionless in a pool of blood. Death was the best thing for him. She knelt in front of the throne and bowed her head. The Dark Lord did not move at first.

After a long moment he spoke, "As a reward for your loyalty and honesty, I will include you in my next plan of action." Alice's head snapped up in surprise, but he was focused on a spot to her left, obviously deep in thought. "I will be sending a group of my most trusted Death Eaters back to Hogwarts soon after the school year begins. If you do not find him there, you are to bring in his friends and the new Headmaster for information. Also, kill as many as possible and destroy all you can: It will be the end of Hogwarts."

------------------------

Ginny dashed through the pouring rain up the steps into Hogwarts castle. It wasn't until she had reached the Great Hall that she realized just how many students were missing. Many parents were afraid to send their children back to where they had already been attacked by Death Eaters and where there was no Dumbledore to promise their safety. There was still no safer place than Hogwarts, but that was only in comparison- there was no truly safe place anymore. Ginny took a seat at the Gryffindor table, which contained the most students (no doubt the result of the pride, courage, and stubborn nature of Gryffindors).

Neville flopped into the seat next to her with a wet squish, looking like he'd just come out of the lake. Ginny reminded herself that she must look the same way. He looked up and down the table and asked Ginny, "Where're Harry, Ron and Hermione?"

"They aren't coming this year." She stated simply. Neville was taken aback

"Well, where are they?" Ginny paused, deciding what she should tell him. He is older and was part of the DA. It would be great to have someone help her gain information inside Hogwarts….. She threw caution to the winds and decided to tell him everything.

After looking up and down the table to make sure no one could be listening (there were so few people at the table, no one was even within earshot), she began. "Er, well… you know how You-Know-Who didn't die when he tried to kill Harry when Harry was a baby?..."

-------------------------------

A week had passed and Alice was becoming increasingly anxious. Draco was less than pleased to hear that Avery had been killed so that she could gain trust she would have gained over time anyway. Yaxley, of course, acted as though he had no opinion on the matter.

Finally, Draco came to her room to tell her it was time to leave for Hogwarts. "But first," he said, "You need to put on these." He held out a pile of what were obviously the black robes and mask worn by the Death Eaters. Alice reminded herself that she was one of them now. Draco left so she could change. The robes fit perfectly, billowing down from the waist, making it look more like a gown than a robe. After making sure she had her arm sash, dagger, and wand, she headed for the main hall.

All the Death Eaters were gathered there, shuffling anxiously in their own robes, all of which paled in comparison to the beauty of her own. Their collective rustling sounded like a pile of leaves in autumn and only served to increase her anxiety. There were no less than 100 of them in the main hall. A man at the centre of the group raised his hands to call attention to himself and the room immediately became silent.

"Death Eaters," The voice was unmistakable- Snape. "It is time for us to bring an end to Hogwarts. Our mission is to find Potter and destroy the school. We will have no more than ten minutes before the Order arrives. We will Apparate into the forest; with Dumbledore dead, there is no one capable of maintaining the wards around the school against me. Tonight, Death Eaters, we prove to the Dark Lord that he chose his followers well. We will show the wizarding community who holds the power." The restlessness and eagerness was palpable. "Now, we fight!" He disapparated, and the rest of the crowd followed suit. Draco grabbed my arm tightly and guided my apparition.

When Alice could breathe again, they were at the edge of a thick, dark forest. The air was full of popping sounds as the Death Eaters arrived. After a minute or so watching Snape mutter spells in the direction of the forests' edge, he declared that it was safe to continue. She emerged from the shadow of the trees into the clear starry night and was rendered breathless for a moment at the sight of Hogwarts castle. The clear sky behind the castle created a chilling silhouette of the great structure.

The Death Eaters marched toward the looming castle in a terrifying swarm. She followed them up the sweeping lawn and saw one of them blast through the door. With a quick check to make sure her mask was on, she followed them inside.

The Death Eaters had already destroyed half of what was obviously once a spectacular Entrance Hall. Those who were not occupied with the destruction of the Entrance Hall moved on to the Main Hall, which was even grander than the previous. A pillar crumbled at the other end from a spell by one of the Death Eaters. It was only a matter of time before teachers came to defend their school. Before this thought had finished crossing Alice's mind, she saw unmasked witches and wizards she did not recognize coming towards them, sending spell after spell at them. The Death Eater next to her was hit and fell to the floor in a heap. She ducked and ran out of the line of fire, but no sooner had she done this that more people came to fight. Only this time, they were students. A boy about Draco's age with protruding ears ran towards her and they began to duel. He was inexperienced, clumsy and weak, but Alice couldn't bring herself to beat him, not when he too was fighting her father. He threw spell after spell at her and she dodged and returned them easily, being careful that none of her spells actually hit him.

From behind the boy, a girl with flaming red hair shot a spell that hit her square in the chest and she slid across the floor and into the wall. There was a moment of confusion but, when she lifted her head, the red-haired girl was in a fight with another Death Eater and Draco had taken over the fight with the boy.

"You can't beat me, Longbottom, you never could!" Draco yelled to the boy over the raucous shouting and crashing sounds that were filling the hall. "Where's Potter? Shouldn't he be coming to your rescue?" A pillar crumbled at the other end of the hall, making dust billow out across the hall; they couldn't stay here. Alice saw clearly that Draco was purposely avoiding hurting the boy. She lifted herself off the marble floor, her body aching terribly, and ran to Draco as the boy he was fighting fell to the floor. No sooner had she reached him that another Death Eater appeared at their side.

"Hurry up and kill him! It's time to go!" Fear spread over the boy's face and he glanced at his wand lying only a few feet away.

"He's one of Potter's friends." Said Alice, "We should take him with us."

The Death Eater nodded, "Fine, but let's go!" Draco looked at Alice, but said nothing. He muttered a spell and Longbottom was instantly tied at the wrists and ankles. With another swish of his wand, the boy was lifted from the ground and floated behind him. When Draco and the Death Eater had turned, she snatched his wand from where it lay and followed them towards the door.

There were Death Eaters, students, and teachers strewn across the floor amidst rubble and pools of blood. Pillars had crumbled and there were holes in the magnificent ceiling and walls, and she wondered how much damage had been done to the rest of the castle. She followed Draco and the boy struggling in mid-air behind him out the door and onto the sweeping lawns where the air was not clouded with dust. A crowd of Death Eaters had already left, and many were following behind her, making their way back to the forest. There was suddenly an eerie light being cast on the forest from the direction of the castle, and all the Death Eaters turned to see one of the immense towers completely engulfed in flames.


End file.
